Ship salvage



Dec. 30, 1969 v. J. P oPoLl SHIP SALVAGE III:

Filed May 20, 1968 V. J. POPOLI SHIP` SALVAGE Dec. 30, 1969 Filed May 20. 1968 Iaweaaiow.-

Dec. 30, 1969 l v.- 1. POPOLI 3,486,475

SHIP SALVAGE Filed May 20, 1968 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 V. J. POPLI SHIP SALVAGE Dec. 30, 1969 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 20, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 v. J. PoPOLl SHIP sALvAGE A Dec. 3o, 1959 'Filed May 20, lgs

c om

9v V QW @v :um En: mv L) -T om, Y I7// Z v Y C# f/ United States Patent O' 3,486,475 SHIP SALVAGE Vincent J. Popoli, 1021 -Washington St., South Braintree, Mass. 02184 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 576,116, Aug. 30, 1966. This application May 20, 1968, Ser. No. 740,793

Int. Cl. B63c 7/08 U.S. Cl. 114-52 13 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Method of and apparatus for use in the salvage of a ship, the method involving the steps of loosely connecting sunken tanks to the hull by means of anchors, anchor means attached in lengthwise spaced positions to the hull, drawing and securing the tanks against the hull, and then charging the tanks to render them buoyant.

The present invention relates to methods of and equipment for use in raising vessels from the bottom of the sea, and is a continuation-in-part of my eo-pending application Ser. No. 576,116, filed Aug. 30, 1966iJ now abandoned.

In general, the procedure by which a sunken vessel is raised is to secure tanks to it, the tanks being dimensioned to have, when ballast water is blown therefrom, suilicient buoyance to raise the ship. The tanks have been connected to the hulls in various ways with one approved way being that of connecting tanks together under a hull and another approach being that of securing each tank directly to the hull to be raised. The use of the portholes in effecting direct attachment of the tanks has also been suggested.

Sunken vessels present a number of problems which increase with the size of a ship and the depth and position at which it lays, factors that determine whether or not it is economically feasible to attempt salvage. The general objective of the present invention is to make it easier and safer to secure the lifting tanks and to render the tanks more effective in freeing s-unken vessels from the bottom of the ocean.

In more detail, an objective of the invention is to raise a ship from the sea bottom by sinking a plurality of tanks along each side of the ship, attaching each tank to the hull, drawing the tanks against the hull, and then exhausting the ballast water from the tanks.

Another objective of the invention is to provide anchor means with anchors attachable to the hull lengthwise thereof, and a plurality of flexible attaching means connected to the tank at spaced intervals and slidably connected to the anchor means and the tank to enable the tank to be connected to the anchor means and the tank then to be drawn into contact with the hull.

Another objective of the invention is to provide T- shaped anchors that facilitate the securing of the tanks to a hull through its portholes, each anchor including a head and a shank pivotally connected thereto, each head being of a length greater than the diameter of a porthole and of width substantially less than that diameter, each shank being of sufficient length to protrude from a porthole when the head traverses the interior end thereof.

Another objective of the invention is to provide such anchors with shanks in the form of U-shaped members that Straddle anchor means in the form of beams and enable the beams to be secured thereto.

Yet another objective of the invention is to provide tanks, each tank having a series of chains spaced lengthwise of it and, when the tank is positioned alongside the hull to be raised each chain is passed through the eye "ice at the protruding end of an anchor and is then chained downwardly and upwardly about the tank to draw and anchor the tank against the hull, at least when that tank is blown.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention from which these and other of its objectives, novel features, and advantages will be apparent.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a ship resting on the bottom and partly prepared for raising,

FIGURE 2 is a stern view thereof,

FIGURE 3 is a like View but with the ship lifted from the sea bottom,

FIGURE 4 is a partly sectioned side view of a porthole anchor,

FIGURE 5 is a view of the anchor as seen from its stem end,

FIGURE 6 is a partly sectioned side view of a lifting tank,

FIGURE 7 is a somewhat schematic view illustrating the anchoring of a lifting tank to the hull of the ship,

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary section of a tank illustrating the connection of the chain thereto,

FIGURE 9 is an end View of a tank partly secured to the hull of the ship,

FIGURE 10 is a like view but with the tank anchored against the hull,

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of a hull looking upwardly against a tank with anchor means in accordance with another embodiment of the invention in place, and

FIGURE 12 is a section taken vertically through a porthole.

In FIGURE 1, a ship is shown as resting partly on her side and partly embedded in the sea bottom 20. This position presents the most problems since it is necessary to remove the bottom material along the partly embedded side, as with pressure streams to expose portholes 21 in the hull 22 to enable tanks 23 to be attached thereto. It is preferred that tanks 23 be attached as the dredging progresses with their ballast discharged either then or later..

Each lifting tank 23 may be of the type illustrated by FIGURES 6-8 and shown as having ported partitions 23A, a fitting 23B for an air line, not shown, from a service ship, and a valve 23C of the relief valve type but adapted to be manually opened when the tank is to be flooded. Each tank is provided with eyes 23D for the hooks 24 on chains 25 connected to a ring 26 at the end of the lifting and lowering chain 27.

Each tank 23 is provided with a plurality of series of circumferentially spaced eyes 28, the series being spaced from each other lengthwise of the tan-k. As chains 29 are connected to the corresponding eyes of the series.

Anchors, generally indicated at 30, are employed to connect the chains 29 to the hull 22 and those, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 are T-shaped with each head 31 of a length substantially greater than the diameter of a porthole 21 bu't relatively narrower. On the face of the head 31 that is to be the outer face when the anchor is attached, there is a boss 32 having arcuate ends 32A and dimensioned to t a porthole 21. Centrally of the boss 32 there is an eye 33 :to which the forked end of a shank 34 is connected by a pivot 35. The shank 34 is dimensioned so that its free end protrudes from the hole when the anchor is caught through a porthole 21 and the free end has an eye 36 for one of the chains 29.

In practice, a tank 23 is sunk alongside the hull 22 in a position where a diver may feed the chains 29 through the eyes 36 of attached anchors 30. The chains 29 are long enough to enable this to be done without risk to the diver who then pulls :the chains outwardly below the tank 32, as it is lowered, thereby to pull the tank 23 against the hull 21. The chain 29 may then be caught to Whichever eye 36 is conveniently and safely available and the ballast in that :tank then exhausted or when all the tanks 23 are attached.

With the tanks 23 held against the hull, lost motion between them and the hull is avoided as is undue risk to the divers in their work of attaching them.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIG- URES 11 and 12, different anchor means are employed to secure the tank 37 to the portholes 38 of the hull 39.

A member, an I beam 40, is shown as attached to the hull 39 lengthwise thereof by anchors generally indicated at 41. The I beam or beams 40 extend substantially the full length of the hull 39. The anchors 41 are shown as having T-shaped heads 42 of a length greater than the diameter of the porthole 38 but relatively narrower. Each head 42 has a boss 43 disposed to extend outwardly into a porthole 38 and the closed end of a U-shaped shank 44 is pivotally supported thereby and the free ends 45 of the shank arms are threaded to receive nuts 46.

When the anchors 41 are caught in the appropriate portholes 38, Washers 47 are placed thereon, a beam member 40 is positioned between the arms of the anchor shanks 44, another washer 48 is then placed on the shank arms and the assembly is securely clamped to the hull 39 by means of the nuts 46.

The tan-k 37 is shown as having eyes 49 and may be attached and drawn in place against the hull 39 by chains S in the same manner as in the case of the embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIGURES l-lO but with the chains 50 extending downwardly between the beam member 40 and the hull 39 in the space between the anchors 41. Desirably and as shown, the beams 40 are provided `with chain-receiving eyes 51. It will be noted that the beams 40 are shown as spaced from the hull 39 by the washers 47.

I claim:

1. Ship salvage equipment comprising a tank, anchor means attachable lengthwise to the hull at spaced intervals, and a plurality of flexible, adjustable attaching means connected to said tank at spaced intervals and slidably connected to said anchor means to enable the tank to be connected to the anchor means and the tank :then to be drawn into contact with the hull.

2. The ship salvage equipment of claim 1 in which the anchor means consists of a plurality of anchors each including a head and a shank shaped and dimensioned to enable fthe head to be entered through a porthole and operatively disposed transversely thereof with the shank extending outwardly thereof.

3. The ship salvage equipment of claim 2 in which each shank is pivotally connected to the head and includes an eye through which the tank attaching means extends.

4. The ship salvage equipment of claim 1 in which the anchor means includes a lengthwise vbeam member to 4 which the tank attaching means is connected and a plurality of anchors detachably attached yto the member and attachable to the hull.

5. The ship salvage equipment of claim 4 in which each anchor includes a head and a shank shaped and dimensioned to enable the head to be entered through a porthole and operatively disposed transversely thereof with the shank extending outwardly thereof.

6. The ship salvage equipment of claim 5 in which the shank of each anchor is U-shaped and its closed end is pivotally connected to the anchor head, the shank straddles the lengthwise member, a washer member is carried by the exposed free ends of the shank, and nuts threaded thereon secure the lengthwise member to the anchor.

7. The ship salvage equipment of claim 6 and a second washer carried by the ends of the shank to lie between the lengthwise member and the hull.

8. The ship salvage equipment of claim 1 in which the attaching means are adjustably connected to the tank.

9. The ship salvage equipment of claim 1 in which each attaching means is anchored at one end to the tank, passes `downwardly to and is slidably connected to the anchor means and is disposed upwardly around the outer part of the tank and is adjustably connected to the upper surface thereof to hold the tank against the hull.

10. The ship salvage equipment of claim 9 in which the anchor means is a beam and the beam includes a plurality of eyes receiving the attaching means.

11. An anchor for use in attaching a salvage tank to the hull of a vessel having portholes, said anchor comprising a head and a shank, said head being of a length greater than the diameter of the portholes and of a width substantially less than said diameter whereby said head may be entered through a porthole and then positioned transversely thereof, said head also including arcuate shoulders spaced inwardly from its ends for entry into a porthole from the inner end thereof and a central boss, said shank being pivotally connected to said boss and of sufficient length to protrude outwardly of the hull when the arcuate shoulders are entered in a porthole.

12. The anchor of claim 11 in which the shank includes an eye which is then exposed to enable a exible attaching means to be passed therethrough.

13. The anchor of claim 11 in which the shank is U- shaped, the free ends of the shank being threaded and exposed to enable a member to be disposed between them.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ANDREW H. FARRELL, Primary Examiner 

